TeaAndTorps

I mean I would see no harm in adding a 'WR over the last [X] battles' stat. But overall solo WR is still a useful stat, in that it will be higher for better players who more regularly have a positive influence on their teams' chances of victory.

Within the scope of 1) I only started playing Cleveland – my first T8 cruiser – in randoms less than a week ago and 2) a pretty comprehensive defeat, I'm quite pleased with this new damage record.

This is a big thing for me – the mid-tier meta is fun, and there's a lot of potential for new content there; I don't see why WG are so keen for everyone to get to T10 asap and focus so much on new content there. Sometimes worries me that they're going for short-term profit over sustainability in the long term. But as I said earlier, I'll just keep enjoying it for as long as I do

I started playing in the summer of 2017. It's the only online multiplayer game I've ever played. I saw an advert for it, I was in the middle of writing my MA dissertation and in need of a distraction, and I found naval history interesting. I started with British CLs (lol; having read HMS Ulysses several times at school), and sucked royally. I've stuck around because I realised it was a much more complicated game than I initially thought, and the learning curve appealed. I've had various breaks, mostly because of IRL circumstances, but I've always enjoyed it – as an experience in terms of graphics, and still climbing that learning curve, and seeing the pay-off in terms of my performance overall. I've found the forum an interesting place to spend time, and always learn something. I've found the most problems thing to be burnout – there's too much new content for me to keep up with. I recognise that that's because I just don't have the time for the game that others do, but deciding to focus on a max of 9 lines and ignore everything else has been a good decision. I somewhat disagree with @Saiyko about it not being 'a thinking man's game'. There is still a very clear learning curve, and those that take the effort to climb it do better. Thinking about tactics and strategies hard pays off. But probably we just mean different things by that expression (Edit: I think it might also be the fact that Saiyko is much higher up that learning curve than me!!!) I find WG does little to even point out the existence of that learning curve (forum folks are entirely responsible for my understanding it – a heartfelt thanks), and this leads to a disappointing tendency for many players not to bother. But such is life and it doesn't stop me having fun, usually. As for the future, I'm concerned about too many new high-tier things, and too many spammy gimmicky new things. I think more focus on good core gameplay and balance, cosmetic or mission contenr would be welcome over constant shiny new ships. Subs also make me concerned. But despite that I do still enjoy the game and intend to stick around for as long as that continues. If I was able to continue having fun after the CV rework I think there's a reasonable subs won't be the apocalypse. I'm nervous about them, but I can only wait and see. I'm just starting to unlock some T8s so there's a lot of new campaign content for me, so I do still see an enjoyable time playing WOWS for the foreseeable future. Further edit to add 1) really enjoy it as a graphic experience, the models are great and I've been encouraged to find out more about the ships in the game as a result 2) thanks for an interesting and thought-provoking thread!

It's taking a bit more time at the end of battle, but I suspect that's just because it's new and I'm not used to it yet. I'll see how I feel in a couple of weeks. It runs more smoothly (for me at least) and it is good to not need to visit a separate window for the directives, so that could save time in port.

I like it, especially having 'directives' in the same place at last. It took a couple of tries to get used to the interface, but I've got there now :)

I appear to have fallen into a time warp and landed in September 2018 (US CL split). The sky was meant to be falling in then, too. I still haven't had any of my ships hit by falling bits of sky (only the occasional HE bomb) Edit: or, to put it a tad more constructively, new lines always lead to hype and the hype always eventually dies down again. While the hype lasts, it's a case of picking whatever is fun to you to play within the bounds of the hype. If I were very upset about a hyped T10 thing, I would simply not play any ship above T7 for a while I do sometimes wish they'd release new lines a bit more slowly, to spread out the effects of the hype, but hey ho, it is capitalism.

Leaving this here instead of typing it out again and giving context.

Tbf there will be, if you stick around for long enough

Am personally v in favour of subs as a separate, pay-to-access game mode Edit: genuinely, WG, if it was set up with different and interesting objectives (attack/defend convoys/naval bases or whatever) and well balanced, I would likely fork out for the variety. Another place to enjoy my DDs if randoms ever get a bit much...

It's a limited company. Its entire purpose and primary legal obligation is to make a profit for its shareholders. I'm not convinced it's the best model for making good games, truth be told, but it is the model capitalism has given us.

French and US special captains (Honoré and Doe) are definitely worthwhile for BBs. I really enjoy Dunkerque. It's quite agile for a BB and has fast-turning turrets, which are features that make me happy. I don't think the credit-earning potential is as great at T6, but it's better than for tech-tree peers. And as I say, it's a fun ship and I enjoy the mid-tier meta.

No dailies here. I have some captains to train on Phoenix, Clemson and Shenyang, so this looks like a perfect chance to play T4.

And after all, the low XP and credit gains kinda... are the 'punishment'. OP: The proposal would just lead to two minutes of players camping hard at the start of a battle. Far better that people have an incentive to try and get something done from the start, even if the results they get from that are variable.

Oh goodness, the question of what a T10 sub will look like concerns me too, especially re. concealment. And see, a special mode for them (e.g. the convoy scenario) would actually encourage me to play subs, for variety. If they just get added into randoms I probably won't, because the gameplay of the surface classes is what interests me in that kind of game.

Fundamentally, all classes should be able to engage/threaten other classes. It might be more difficult but a BB can present a threat to a DD contesting objectives in the late game (and DD to CL, CL to BB etc.), which isn't the case when facing subs in something without ASW. So either one of the following needs to happen: 1) ASW for everyone 2) Subs forced to come to vulnerable depths with something like the oxygen mechanic. 3) Subs kept in a separate convoy-based battle type, open only to subs and ASW ships. Personally I prefer 3), bit could live with the others. Also, something needs doing about subs' spotting capabilities to help keep DDs viable. E.g. subs only spot for the team when surfaced and are more easily spotted themselves.

My theory: everyone feels they deserve to win mostly, so they don't necessarily experience winning streaks as remarkable. Losing streams are experienced as both unpleasant and remarkable, so they stick in the memory. People do have the winning streaks too, but they see those as how it should work and obviously aren't going complain. A related point: people don't understand randomness. It does *not* mean evenly distributed. Personally I find it more frustrating to have streaks where I mess up and don't do my job properly, win or lose. But that just means I should go and do something else for a while.

The one time I decided to go back to T2 and took my Smith out for a spin, I ended up in a battle with Flamu on the red team. His chat had persuaded him to play Mikasa... Even if that ship is more of a meme than a threat, it really didn't feel like my day.

Flamu is something of an acquired taste. I have some problems with the way he talks about other players who are less skilled and experienced than him, but in terms of picking up tips for playing well he is a good source, a very skilled player.

Dallas was also hilarious fun last time I played, but I've not been playing WOWS for the last several months so haven't tried it since the IFHE changes

Unpopular choise perhaps, but I do find Aoba fun. Relatively agile, and if you can make the slightly sluggish gun handling work for you the ballistic properties of the shells work nicely for me at least. A very good kiting cruiser (esp. given torp angles), and that's a playstyle I like. Farragut is fun too, as long as you're not facing T8s, if you like knife-fighting DDs.

To add to my previous: I do see your point here; at low and mid tiers at least, I tend to much prefer my DDs. It's of course up to you what you reckon is most fun I will just say that it doesn't have to be loads to get the benefit, and that anticipating a DD captain's moves in your BB and greeting them with a full salvo of BB HE is a lot of fun too ;) Understanding how the other classes 'think' generally gives me the confidence to play a bit more aggressively in my BBs, and that's very worthwhile.

I would also seriously, seriously suggest playing a range of classes. I've been away for a few months – hoping to get back into playing in the next few days when IRL circs sort themselves out – but can say for sure that understanding how the battle looks from the point of view of DDs and BBs made me a better cruser captain, understanding that in turn helped me anticipate BBs' and CLs' moves in my DDs, and doing that helped me improve at positioning and target selection in BBs. It all creates positive feedback loops. Looking forward to picking it all up again...

I mean I think this might be a bit optimistic, but have definitely done it in about 12 games from 3 points in Phoenix with premium time, Restless Fire and maybe some special signals – presumably quicker at higher tiers with bigger XP gains. Good point you make about Haida's concealment too. Words cannot express how much I love that ship since I started playing her in randoms.

Legit it takes so little time to grind a 10-pointer tho, and I say that as someone who doesn't have any 19-pointers yet... I can see how playing Haida without CE can be less than wonderful, sure, but calling it discrimination is just hollowing that word out until it becomes basically meaningless *shrug*